The LSU-SEC standoff has officially left the realm of internal conference squabbling and landed in the hands of a sitting state official. A Louisiana judge already told the SEC it cannot punish member schools for rostering players who returned from NFL training camps, and LSU has signaled it plans to do exactly that. Now Georgia's attorney general wants the league to go nuclear in response.
NEWS: Georgia AG Chris Carr is encouraging Greg Sankey to take "all measures available," including suspending and/or removing LSU from the conference, if the Tigers elect to roster former NFL players this season, per a letter obtained by ESPN. t.co/ojovFxmnEJ
Chris Carr's letter to Sankey, obtained by ESPN, urges the commissioner to take "all measures available," up to and including suspending or removing LSU from the conference, if the Tigers actually roster a former pro this season. According to the letter, Carr's office is prepared to "use all legal means necessary to protect the University of Georgia, student athletes, and the integrity of college athletics." That's a state's top prosecutor putting his name on a threat against a fellow SEC school, which is not a normal Tuesday in this conference.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's full letter to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, obtained by @On3. t.co/2GvwaeDYuK
This didn't come out of nowhere. Ross Dellenger reported over the weekend that SEC school executives are exploring genuinely extreme options — boycotting competition against LSU, hitting the program with probation or expulsion, even filing a federal legal challenge of their own. And crucially, those conversations are described as membership-led, not something Sankey's office cooked up on its own.
SEC school executives are exploring extreme measures to address LSU’s plans to add former pro players, including boycotting competition, sanctioning the school with probation or expulsion and filing a federal legal challenge, sources tell @YahooSports. t.co/9dhRairW1I
LSU, for its part, has been the lone holdout. When the SEC's presidents voted on the penalty memos last week, every school signed off except LSU's Wade Rousse, who abstained. Lane Kiffin has spent the week insisting he's in "daily communication" with the league and will "absolutely follow" whatever guidance comes down, while stressing his focus is on the season opener against Clemson, not the courtroom drama. Tennessee's Donde Plowman, chair of the SEC's executive committee, made clear the league isn't blinking either, telling ESPN the SEC is "prepared to defend our rules and our authority to defend our rules" and that it's "not a rule we will budge on."
The legal fight comes to a head Thursday morning in Baton Rouge, where a judge will decide whether to make the temporary restraining order against the SEC permanent. Sankey filed a brief and affidavit ahead of that hearing arguing the conference should retain the authority to enforce its own rules on member schools, and that letting former pros back onto college rosters squeezes out roster spots that would otherwise go to high school recruits.
The SEC filed a brief with a Louisiana court ahead of Thursday’s injunction hearing, including an affidavit from commissioner Greg Sankey. The brief outlines why the SEC should hold authority to enforce its rules against a member school and that Sankey should not be held liable.
Sankey is now expected to appear at Thursday's hearing and may testify himself, according to Dellenger, though those plans can still change. Add in reporting that College Football Playoff leaders have already discussed disqualifying programs that roster former pros from the postseason entirely, and the stakes here go well past one team's depth chart. This is shaping up as a fight over whether the SEC — or any conference — can actually govern its own membership, and LSU is the school testing that question in real time.